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“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity

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The Expanded Self:

Chapter 12 Society as Self

Self is nested as a member of a larger self, which in turn becomes a member

of an even larger self ...

Overview: Individual selves can coalesce into a bigger self if the latter forms a
tightly knit unit subordinating the former. Thus, a single cell existing alone is a
self, yet an organism comprising millions of cells is also a self — now a mega-self.
Unlike social insects that form mega-selves solely on the basis of instinct, human
societies are much more complex and flexible. In forming a human society, social
cohesion conflicts with individual freedom, and a compromise constantly needs
to be made. A society can last as long as its members receive more than what
they have to sacrifice. Humans have an inborn social conscience shaped by thou-
sands, perhaps millions, of years of relentless group selective pressure in the
course of evolution. Thus, in a successful society most members are moral — that
is, pro-social — by definition, otherwise it would have collapsed and perished.
Most wars result from, directly or indirectly, competition among human
groups for limited resources. It is a competition among mega-selves for survival,
a form of group selection. Groups that possess a high degree of internal cohesion
are more likely to succeed. It is also a fact that excessive intra-group cohesion
tends to enhance inter-group cruelty and atrocity. Thus, human nature can be at
once good and bad depending on the vantage point — inside or outside a group.
War will never end until all of humanity becomes a single mega-self.

12.1 The Stratification of Self

I define self as a system that functions for its own continued existence.
Therefore, self can fit into any mold as long as the latter conforms to